I am not really a fan of spontaneity. It’s fun sometimes, but typically I like to have things planned out so that I can mentally prepare for what I need to do. REALITY CHECK: That’s not how the real world works! I found this out today… Last night I had a lot of plans for this up-coming week… I was going to get an oil change, go grocery shopping, buy some new shoes, run other miscellaneous errands, work on the menu for the wedding, and then go home on wednesday to hang out with my family for a few days before starting work next week. Plus mom & I had planned on going to David’s Bridal on Thursday to dress shop, since she works on the weekends. But one phone call changed all of that… apparently my training class started today and they told me the wrong date. So I was awakened at 9:00 this morning by HR apologizing for the mistake and requesting that I come in as soon as possible. At first I was really upset… I was looking forward to getting away for a few days and taking care of my to-do list before starting 40 hour weeks. My plans got rocked, so I just had to adjust. I guess there’s no point to fighting it, but this is something I need to work on. I expect everything to go my way and if something happens I think its a personal attack, like the world is conspiring against me. Ridiculous, I know, but this is how I think. I need to lighten up a little and make room for curve balls in my life. I’d be much happier and a lot less stressed.

It’s been awhile since I posted up anything about whatever =/ But I’ve been fascinated lately & I will be uploading more pictures later on. So, follow me on Myspace.

MYSPACE.COM/402720067

Apparently this is the fashion for the fall of 2010…

Can someone please explain this to me?? I don’t consider myself extremely fashion savvy by any means, but I think I have decent enough taste. I just don’t understand the world of couture… if any one out in the real world wore something like this people would just point and laugh. So why design it at all?

The line between looking “vogue” and looking like Chiquita Banana is getting thinner and thinner every season.

I dont’ know if I’m going to get me a new pair of eyeglasses. I saw this pretty cute eye frames. It’s pretty! And i so wanted to get me a new pair though I already bought me a pair but it’s fine right? Idk. Maybe eyeglasses are my thing this month since dresses and cute shoes are the stuffs which I bought from last month. Haha. So they’re like my flavor of the month.

“Please accept from me this unpretentious bouquet of very early-blooming parentheses: (((()))).”

Photo by ohsweetnuthin.

Contributor’s notes from Mr. Salinger, 1944:

I’m twenty-five, was born in New York, am now in Germany with the Army.  I used to go pretty steady with the big city, but I find that my memory is slipping since I’ve been in the Army.  Have forgotten bars and streets and buses and faces; am more inclined, in retrospect, to get my New York out of the American Indian Room of the Museum of Natural History, where I used to drop my marbles all over the floor. . . . I went to three colleges—never quite, technically, getting past the freshman year.  Spent a year in Europe when I was eighteen and nineteen, most of the time in Vienna. . . . I was supposed to apprentice myself to the Polish ham business. . . . They finally dragged me off to Bydgoszcz for a couple of months, where I slaughtered pigs, wagoned through the snow with the big slaughter-master, who was determined to entertain me by firing his shotgun at sparrows, light bulbs, fellow employees.  Came back to America and tried college for half a semester, but quit like a quitter.  Studied and wrote short stories in Whit Burnett’s group at Columbia.  He published my first piece in his magazine, STORY.  Been writing ever since, hitting some of the bigger magazines, most of the little ones.  Am still writing whenever I can find the time and an unoccupied foxhole.

No- of course I won’t show you! But hey, I got it! It was originally $499 but I seriously SERIOUSLY got it for $148!!!! The dress was on the “as is” rack at David’s Bridal- meaning something is wrong with it and you buy it as is. I searched and couldn’t find a damn thing wrong with it so it must be some pretty insignificant damage lol. The dress is seriously gorgeous. I mean….. I couldn’t have found anything near that perfect for that price!

So I mentioned I went to David’s Bridal. My consultant was nice but not very helpful- I felt bad for her, she was running around trying to tend to all kinds of people and well, I didn’t exactly need her help anyways, I am not fussy about that sort of thing. Someone who knows nothing about me couldn’t really give me good advice anywho- which is why my BFF and Mom were there rooting me on. Now- I have never been in a place like that. Never even tried on a dress outside of a sun dress…. I have seriously in my 26 years of life on this planet never worn a formal dress. I am just not that kind of girl. So being in a store full of women who appeared to know what they were doing made me a little nervous.

When the consultant started grabing up a $600 dress I immediately told her my budget was only $200- I lied. It was $150 lol. This is a last minute thing and we just aren’t made of money. So when she told me the 99 dollar rack had been ransacked I started panicking. I called my fiance and begged him to up the budget to $300 and he reluctantly agreed. The dresses in that range were like pure shit. No way. So my mom pointed out a dress on the as is rack and I decided to try it on for the hell of it…….after trying on 5 more dresses I realized that the one my mom picked out was perfect. It was made for me. It was exactly my size, flattered my shape, was the last dress and right on my original budget I mean how awesome is that?

But oh yeah- before my consultant brought the dresses to the room- first she tells me the rooms were full and asked if I could come back with an appointment…….I had a damn appointment so that pissed me off that she didn’t know better. Then when she ran off, I grabbed the dress off the rack and the manager hauled ass towards me, asked where my consultant was and informed me that customers are not alowed to pull dresses off the rack I mean she was a RUDE BITCH. I am calling the people on her ass tomorrow because I just can’t believe she is a manager and isn’t more professional than that- it was pathetic. So I wouldn’t recommend that store to anyone else but I am just too happy about my dress to be mad about anything…..

Oh and THEN. When I went to pay for the dress one of the other consultants came and asked me if I was buying the veil I tried on with it and I laughed and said “No- I am not paying $50 for a piece of lace attached to a barrette.” She looked at me like I was out of my MIND for wanting to make my own veil. I mean this veil was seriously one single piece of lace on a barrette please someone tell me why in the hell someone would be stupid enough to pay $50 for something you could easily make for like $10?!?!?! They were all trying to act like they had some great careers or something like they were on a whole different level from me because I was buying a cheap dress lol…..they probably just barely make over minimum wage yet were all so uppity  it was ridiculous. If I can get away with buying a cheap ass dress that looks GREAT on me- don’t hate lol. In all honesty those girls around me trying on the $700 dresses looked like crap compared to me in my $150 dress lol.

While everyone else was being serious bridezillas and overzealous bridal consultants- I was doing the robot in my wedding dress;-p No seriously- I had to break it in and make it my own….so I stood on my little platform and did the robot lol.

I love the dress I just want to walk around my house in it LOL. I just feel so pretty;-p Like I said, I have never had a reason or a need to wear a dress of that caliber so I am experiencing a new thing here lol. Now I feel like it is OFFICIAL- I am REALLY GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!

Email to request a wholesale catalogue.

I hate being stuck without electricity. It makes me unproductive and so forth. I cannot go online. I cannot download the stuffs that I need. I cannot talk to my friends…and so on. I wish I could have bought me a SmartBroadband prepaid so that I could go online anywhere. (LOL) *Eventhough I’m already a postpaid user.* Good thing dad’s package has arrived yesterday so I’m using my new netbook now. I think I sorta like what my dad had bought me. It’s like my new toy, the old one is still in good condition too and I’m still using it and I’m letting my sibs (Pj and Geizel) use it if they feel like using it since G’s Mac is sorta giving up and Pj’s desktop is quite old and we needed to buy a new one. I just love the stuffs dad had bought me, it’s so ME! Haha. Those are the stuffs I wanted to buy for myself but he bought it for me instead. Weee… I still wanted to buy another xHDD for myself though. I just feel like buying one for my other stuffs. Haha. I’m hoping there’s a cheap one available. I also wanted to buy this 16gb usb flash drive that I saw on the mall with my sibs but I forgot how much it cost. LOL. Darn, with these stuffs that I want to provide for myself, I need to get me a job! Haha.

I just attempted to cook chicken adobo for dinner. It’s a fairly simple meal and I’ve seen my mom cook it a thousand times. I was pretty confident I could work it out. Just garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and chicken… how difficult could it be? Apparently pretty difficult. I don’t know where I went wrong, but it tasted like rubber. So cooking is not a strength of mine, it never has been. I’ve been trying to practice so that I can at least make edible concoctions (for my fiance and future children’s sake), but I’m never going to be a Rachael Ray and I think I’m finally okay with that. I never like accepting defeat, but in this case it’s the smartest, and safest, thing to do. Who knows, maybe every now and then I’ll surprise myself and come up with something fabulous, but for the most part I think I’m gonna have to stick with the basics. Instead of repeatedly trying and failing in an area that I’m clearly not cut out for, I’m going to start focusing that energy into things that I am good at. This doesn’t mean I’m giving up all together. I’m just accepting that I can’t be good at everything. :/

The next five months will be tough for me and my family. Working 40 hours a week and 11 units in school. Four nights and all day Saturday will be dedicated to school. That means that I won’t have much time to cook and experiment recipes.

This song always makes me smile. And the music video is so cute! I want to do a photo shoot with this song playing in the background!

Nouvelle Vague will be at The Regency Ballroom on February 7th, 2010.

So I’m getting married. I briefly mentioned that in my last blog, but I felt it deserved a little more attention. We’re in the beginning stages of planning, which you can read more about on our wedding blog. Planning has only been in full swing for about 2 weeks, but we’ve already run into numerous obstacles and I’m starting to feel the stress. I realized yesterday that it was starting to take away from the excitement, and that’s not how I imagined this time of my life to be. So now I’m really working on keeping things in perspective. In the grand scheme of things my marriage, and not the ceremony, is what’s important. Thanks to my best friend I understand that now. I was focusing too much on petty problems that really won’t matter 20 years from now. She pointed out that if my purpose in all of this is to marry Rob and spend the rest of my life with him, if that’s my true motivation, then I will be happy no matter how the minor details work out. If I stay focused on that purpose everything else will fall into place. And she’s right of course… that’s why she’s my MOH. To keep me from turning into Bridezilla.

That same principle applies to other aspects of life too, not just the fated drama of wedding planning. We all have goals that we have set out to achieve. Career goals, educational goals, weight loss goals, you name it. And inevitably we will come across obstacles in our journey to reach them. Things distract us or we face resistance, and we lose sight of what’s really important. Often when this happens the source of our motivation changes too. I’m going to use a cliché example here, but it works. If your goal is to get in shape your motivation should be staying healthy. Then the first week you drop 4lbs, the second week you drop 5lbs, and you’re feelin’ really good about yourself. At this point your motivation has probably changed because of how quickly weight is coming off. But the third week you gain a pound. Then the fourth week you don’t change at all. The resistance you’re facing discourages you and distracts you from your original goal. It may even make you completely disinterested. However if you had stayed focused on what’s really important, which is getting into shape and staying healthy, and not necessarily the number on the scale, then you can easily push through the resistance. Make sense? All I’m trying to say is when setting a goal make sure you focus on what’s important and let that motivate you. Keep things in proper perspective. Don’t let minor details and obstacles deter you because they won’t matter at the finish line.

I just found out that Ks Choice is releasing a new album!

I have been a fan ever since I heard “Not An Addict,” and then declared ultimate devotion when I first heard/saw the music video for “Believe” (one of the most endearing songs of triumph and affirmation there ever was, in my opinion.)

I was about 12 or 13 when I discovered them. I’m coming up on 24 now and, as a self-proclaimed music enthusiast, still holds “Cocoon Crash” as of the greatest albums ever. Being from overseas, if you want to hear the most recent news about the band, you have to frequent the website, which I did often and was so happy to keep up on their news.

Earlier this decade, Ks Choice disbanded in order to pursue other interests. I had pretty much written them off after that, and with tears in my eyes, thought that I wouldn’t hear from them again. But time passed and I thought to do one last check of the website, where I found out about “10,” a cd and dvd compilation signifying the highlights of their musical careers from 1993 to 2003. It was so long ago that I’m not sure, but I think it was 2004 when I checked the website- a whole year after the release. I was both ecstatic, yet disappointed that I was left out for so long. Although quite successful, the band is  underground (the best bands these days always are,) and I had to make a special order for “10” through my local record store.

I believe it was not long after that they went on tour, and I felt fortunate to discover they were coming to Arizona. That is, until I found out it was a 21+ show (I was 18 at the time.) Then I was just pissed, and heartbroken. Because of “10,” I just knew it was the only chance I would have at seeing them live. But there was nothing I could do. I’ve been checking their website occasionally since then, and it appeared as if it wasn’t even being updated, mostly due to their disbanding no doubt. But then I just checked it today, and again to my joy, I found another surprise similar to when I found “10”- a brand new album with brand new songs. I just searched them on Youtube, and they’ve already got a single from the yet-to-be-titled album on the internet! “When I Lay Beside You” took me back to that first time I heard “Believe,” and it likewise has that same shining optimism and sincerity that defines Ks Choice. I not sure of their political and moral views, but this song is one that can bring people together. Sarah and Gert especially are proof that music can change and influence people for the better. As of right now, the album is slated for release in March, but I don’t know if that’s internationally or just in Europe. Moreover, the only tours that are scheduled right now to support the album are in Belgium and France. (I’m PRAYING for a stateside tour!) Be sure to check for these songs on youtube or iTunes as they are very worthy to be in your library. 

 (P.S.- Feel free to pray with me for that US tour!)

Here’s a banner I made for Vayda’s room out of construction paper, ribbon, paint and my famous coffee filter flowers;-p I’m bored………

So I whine a lot when I am pregnant….I just don’t do well with any sort of aches and pains or being sick, etc. I hate it more than most people like I REAAALLLLLYYY can’t hang.

I dunno if this is what most women experience in early pregnancy but my back hurts like hell throughout my pregnancy. My hios and butt ache, my leg muscles get cramped, I toss and turn, etc. It’s not just when my tummy gets big, it’s the entire pregnancy. My bed is SUPER uncomfortable, too. My sister just got a new bed and is giving us her old pillow top which is sooooooo comfortable….. only problem is finding a way to get it. Omg if I had it right now I would lock me and the kids in the room, let them watch tv and color and I would hit the freaking sack…..probably not sleep but I just wanna lounge, I feel so drained lately…

So anyways. When I was pregnant with my son I craved salty foods, cheese and meat…..when I was pregnant with my daughter I craved lots of sweets, brownies and ice cream in particular. Now? Salty foods, meat and cheese lol… I dunno how accurate the cravings are but with my son and daughter they were pretty much dead on. I don’t know if I have the feeling that I am having a girl because I am really having one or because I want one so bad.

I always wanted to follow my mom in the birth order/gender thing and so far I have. My brother is 5 years older than me and my sister is two years younger than me. My son is 5 years older than my daughter and my daughter will be two years older than this one. I loved having a little sister so close in age, even though we fought a lot, we still got along great. I want Vayda to have a little sister. Judea is the typical big brother, much like my brother was. I just like that set up lol. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for the girl but everyone else says that it’s a boy. I will be happy regardless, so long as the baby is healthy, ya know? I just really got my hopes up lol.

I’ve been getting on and off bouts of morning sickness- which is more like evening and night sickness in my case. It gets really bad but only lasts like 10 minutes. I was sick with my son during the first part of my pregnancy but with my daughter it was full blown the entire time. I was puking constantly. It was soooo miserable. I hope that doesn’t happen again.

Ok well that’s about it, I’m going to lay down on the couch:-(

Today I’m celebrating the release of Ignited! I Love this story. I’m also featured at two blogs. I’m giving away a copy of Ignited to one lucky commenter at each site so stop by for your chance to win! )

http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-amber-skyzes-guest-blog.html

and

http://mjdaniels.blogspot.com/2010/01/terrific-tuesday-with-amber-skyze.html

Blurb:
Got Fantasies? Nikaya does. She longs to be loved by two men.
Nikaya is celebrating her birthday with a new Mustang. As she’s climbing the mountain in her shiny new car, a police officer comes out of nowhere. He pulls her over and treats her to a birthday spanking. With a sore butt and a burning need to orgasm, she’s whisked away to a cabin.
Braden and his best friend Hank have a few surprises up their sleeve for the birthday girl. They include whips, floggers, chains, blindfolds and more. They hope to make all her fantasies reality.
Three hot bodies, sex toys and a spanking machine are only the beginning for Nikaya.

Excerpt:
Nikaya floored the gas pedal as she climbed the windy mountain road in her new black Mustang. The beige plush leather seats caressed her legs. The Mustang, a gift to herself for her thirtieth birthday, roared up the hill with ease. Some might look at thirty as the end of having fun, a time to grow up and figure out where they were going in life, but not her. No, she knew exactly where she was going and the car was not some midlife crisis purchase. She looked at thirty like an awakening to a new decade—one that would allow her more freedom to explore who she really was.
With the top down she felt alive. Warm air blew her long sandy blonde hair away from her face. As she drove higher and higher into the mountain, blood pumped through her veins. She was free.
The sun dipped behind the mountain caps. Nikaya didn’t worry as dusk settled upon the town of Desmond Point. She knew the lay of the land like the back of her hand. She pressed the pedal slightly harder with her high-heeled sandal, gunning the engine on the desolate road. Her fire-engine red fingertips gripped the steering wheel. One wrong move and she could find herself flying over the side of the mountain, crashing on the rocky bottom. Adrenaline soared, her heart pumped wildly. She loved living on the edge, the thrill of adventure.
A quick glance in her rearview mirror alerted her to trouble.
“Shit,” she cursed, noticing the glare of the flashing red light. “Where did he come from?” The road had been virtually empty for the last two miles.
She slowed down and found a safe spot to pull over. Was this the right thing to do? The flashing lights weren’t on top of the car, they were inside. She’d read articles about crazies who liked to pretend they were police officers. They’d pull over unsuspecting women and then rape them. Could this guy be one of them?
She tapped her fingertips on the wheel, contemplating what she should do. Should she call and verify he was for real? Her cell phone probably wouldn’t get reception this high up the mountain. She couldn’t take off and leave him standing there, just in case he was a true officer.
Another thought popped in her mind. Would he give her a speeding ticket? A ticket was not something she wanted for her birthday. Maybe he would cut her some slack.
“Evening, ma’am,” the man said, approaching the car.
“Sir.” His sun-streaked brown hair fell haphazardly around his face. He wasn’t in uniform. He was dressed in black slacks and a short-sleeved white button-down shirt. The top three buttons were undone, exposing a small patch of dark brown hair. He looked more like someone who spent most of his days on the beach, rather than driving around in a police car. Another glance in the rearview mirror warned her he wasn’t driving a police cruiser. A shiver of fear passed through her as she gazed into the most astonishing blue eyes.
“Do you realize how fast you were going?” he asked.
She shrugged, indifferently.
“I’m gonna need your license and registration.” He leaned two muscular hands on the door.
He smelled of sun and sand.
Nikaya obediently dug through her purse, looking for the documents. Once she retrieved her license she handed it to him. “Look, officer, I didn’t mean any harm. I—”
“Step out of the car, ma’am.”
“Huh?”
“I said, step out of the car.”
“What is this all about?” Surely this could be handled from the safety of her car.
“Now.”
His stern voice prompted her out of the car.
“Hands against the car. Legs spread.”